Collaboration and conflict management 101

Our Dimensions of Biodiversity team held a meeting at the Lake Baikal Bolshie Koty field station this summer to discuss teamwork and conflict management. We used a lot of the materials that were shared with us by Pat Soranno and her CSI-Limnology team. So for this Roundtable discussion, I’ll tell you about the materials we used, and policy documents that we are using to manage issues around data sharing, collaboration, and co-authorship…

If you want to check out some reading materials that might be useful, shoot me an email.

Update after our discussion…

1) I agree very much with several of Stacy‘s points about the Kilman conflict instrument – a) it seems very focused on American culture, and b) the structure of and word choice in the survey tends to put positive emphasis on extroversion and quick reaction.

2) Here’s the link to the post about creating a “resentment list” during field work – good for a laugh and also for easing tensions that build in close quarters.

3) Here’s the paper that John Parker and I wrote about working group dynamics – there’s a box where we set out some of the important points about running a working group.

Steve came into my office today while I was trying to fill out my reimbursement forms from the Russian travel this summer – he looked at my desk and commented on this particular side of international collaboration! 🙂

 

Preparing for an academic interview

At the last NCEAS Roundtable I presented my “job talk” for an upcoming academic interview. I received many insightful comments from those in attendance and I think my final presentation will be much improved by incorporating this feedback.

In preparation for my interview I have also been reading all of the job search / academic interview articles that I can get my hands on. I thought I would post a few of the best resources that I have come across during this process. Please feel free to add more in the comments section!

  1. Dr. Marissa Baskett’s list of resources (contains the resources below and many more!)
  2. Ecology 101: Preparing for academic interview
  3. Job quest in ecology and evolution (extremely helpful, contains real application packages)
  4. How to get a teaching job at a primarily undergraduate institution